EDS has clinched a contract worth up to $9 billion to supply the US Navy and Marine Corps with a single, seamless network. It's the biggest ever US government contract, but it only takes a quick look at EDS' major subcontractors for you to realise that the deal is a massive victory for the PC business - and therefore for Wintel - over big iron.

Sunday's debate between New York Senate hopefuls Hillary (Mrs. President) Clinton (Democrat, Nowhere) and US Representative Rick Lazio (Republican, New York) took a comical turn when moderator Marcia Kramer of WCBS-TV asked then about "bill 602-P", a persistent Internet hoax claiming that Congress is contemplating the assessment, by the US Postal Service, of a five-cent surcharge on each e-mail message.

Microsoft trial judge Thomas Penfield Jackson is accused by Microsoft of judicial misconduct for talking to the press, and it's becoming increasing obvious that this is one hell of an albatross around the good judge's neck. It seems to have become impossible for the press to come within a couple of streets of Jackson without them inducing him to, er, talk to them.

Finally. Following months of heavy criticism from the media, City and shareholders, BT's finance director Robert Brace has resigned. The announcement immediately put EIGHT per cent on BT's share price, meaning his departure was worth around £4 billion.

Last week, while prepping for a piece on InterX's results (out today), we noticed that the company's Web site URL had changed from Interxtechnologies.com to Interx.com. Last time we looked, Interx.com was owned and operated by a small US concern.

Both BT and Oftel have hit back at last week's avalanche of critical stories and features. Both companies caught heavy flak, ultimately being blamed for Britain's failure to keep up with the rest of the world in the Internet revolution.

Dealing with overheating processors is clearly an ongoing battle for you overclockers. In a similarly vein, Australia is renowned for being extremely warm. So who better to look into cooling device than the crazy bunch at Insane Hardware. This time Thermaltake's new Super Orb gets the treatment. The results of the investigation are posted online.

Sega's Dreamcast appears to be winning buyers, at long last. The ill-fated 128-bit console saw average US weekly sales shoot up 156.5 per cent between 23 July and 30 September, according to market researcher PC Data.

The government's new rules on employers being allowed to monitor their staff's email have been contradicted by the Data Protection Commissioner Elizabeth France, who intends to produce a Code of Practice condemning it.

The financial reporting practices of industry titans like Cisco and Microsoft are coming under increased scrutiny. They're big, they're apparently highly profitable, but neither company paid federal income taxes for their most recent financial year. It's all legal, but the accounting approach they're using hovers on the edge of legality and ethical behaviour.

Microsoft will offer the Great Unwebbed access for free - almost - when the eMachines version of the MSN Web Companion goes on sale later this month. The eMachines version of the device will retail at $349 with a "total in-store transaction of $400," but by signing up for a three year MSN contract at $21.95 a month, customers will get a $400 rebate.